Chapter 12 - THE FATHER AND THE SON

Marcus went home.

He did not go alone.

Detective Brooks wanted a warrant.

Rebecca wanted an injunction.

Khloe wanted answers.

In the end, all three arrived almost simultaneously.

Richard stood inside the Thorne penthouse library.

He poured himself a whiskey as if none of it mattered.

“You brought an audience.”

Marcus entered first.

“You threatened Khloe’s assets.”

“I warned you.”

Rebecca stepped inside.

“Any attempt to transfer Mrs. Thorne’s assets after notice of a legal dispute will make your situation considerably worse.”

Richard looked at her.

“And you are?”

“The attorney who is going to spend the next decade making you regret that question.”

Khloe almost smiled.

Richard’s eyes moved toward her.

For the first time, his composure faltered.

“You shouldn’t be here.”

Khloe rested one hand over her stomach.

“You’ve made a lot of decisions about where I should be.”

“That’s over.”

Richard looked at Marcus.

“Get your wife under control.”

Marcus’s expression changed.

“She stopped being something I had the right to control the moment I betrayed her.”

Richard scoffed.

“Spare me the confession.”

Marcus stepped closer.

“You forged her authorization.”

“No.”

“You arranged it.”

“I arranged the survival of our company.”

“You paid yourself thirty-eight million dollars.”

Richard’s eyes narrowed.

“Who told you?”

Marcus laughed bitterly.

“That’s what you’re worried about?”

Richard set down his glass.

“That payment was compensation.”

“For stealing my wife’s shares?”

“For keeping forty thousand people employed.”

Khloe walked closer.

“My mother bought those shares before you could afford your first Manhattan office.”

Richard looked at her.

“She believed in your company.”

“And you repaid her by using her daughter as collateral.”

Richard’s face remained cold.

“You benefited from the Thorne name.”

Khloe shook her head.

“I had money before Marcus.”

“I had a family before Marcus.”

“I had a life before Marcus.”

“You people keep acting as though marrying into this family gave me value.”

“It didn’t.”

Richard stared at her.

Then something ugly entered his expression.

“You think Marcus married you for love?”

The room changed.

Marcus stepped forward.

“Don’t.”

Richard smiled.

Khloe looked at him.

“Finish that sentence.”

Richard did.

“Your voting shares were the reason our families encouraged the marriage.”

Marcus’s voice rose.

“That is not why I married her.”

“Maybe not eventually.”

“But it is why you were introduced.”

Khloe turned toward Marcus.

He looked devastated.

“Is that true?”

Marcus hesitated.

And that hesitation answered before he spoke.

“Our fathers discussed a partnership.”

Khloe’s throat tightened.

“Did you know before our first date?”

“Yes.”

Everything inside her went still.

Marcus stepped toward her.

“But I fell in love with you.”

She backed away.

“You knew I was being positioned.”

“I knew our families wanted the relationship.”

“I didn’t know about any plan to control your shares.”

“Did you tell me?”

“No.”

Khloe nodded slowly.

Another lie.

Older than Isabella.

Older than the baby.

Older than their marriage.

Richard watched them with almost clinical detachment.

Then Detective Brooks entered the library.

She held a document.

“Richard Thorne.”

He looked at her.

“We have a warrant for your electronic devices and financial records.”

Richard smiled faintly.

“You think that frightens me?”

Brooks shook her head.

“No.”

“But this might.”

Two officers stepped into the room behind her.

“You’re also being detained in connection with suspected financial fraud and conspiracy.”

Richard’s smile disappeared.

May you like

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy...

"The vanilla buttercream hit the hardwood floor with a sickening, heavy thud. I didn’t even register the sound of the custom glass...

"The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front do...

"""""""The perfect wife was about to commit the unthinkable. Then the front door opened.""""The heavy bronze candlestick was raise...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire...

"When my husband shoved me into the freezing pool in front of his entire family, I thought the cold water would be the worst part....

And for the first time in Marcus’s life, he watched his father lose control of the room.

---